........My workouts are going well, and I am feeling strong. I ran a 53:00 7 mile earlier this week, did some strong 800 meter repeats, averaging about 3:10, and yesterday ran a 29:00 four mile. Today, was an easy day. I jogged a half-mile, and then wanted to maintain a 1:40 440 yd. pace, as I figure that I will need to average that pace to assure myself a low 21:00 5K in my upcoming race. I ran 3x400 and 1x800 (1:24, 1:31, 1:29, 3:11). The times were too fast, which concerns me because it tells me that I don't know what a 1:40 pace feels like, and I might take off too fast in my race and fade badly. On the other hand, this is good news because I was intentionally trying to run a moderate pace and not push too hard, and yet posted some relatively quick times.......

.......Any thoughts or suggestions?......

Trout,

As Michigan mentioned earlier, you are running too hard too often. Your work outs are more like race type efforts. Right now your 5K pace is 7 min or so. In one week you did 7 miles in 53:00 at around 7:30 pace. This is basically a fast tempo work out. 3-4 miles at this pace is plenty for you. Do 7 miles but warm up a mile or two before and after. Or do 4 X 1 mile within this work out. Then a couple days later you do 4 miles at 7:15 pace. This is faster than tempo pace for you which means it is racelike as far as recovery. Then you do an easy day where you do over a mile of intervals at faster than 5K pace. This is not an easy day. If you train a lot with this speed stuff, you are training your anaerobic system and not your aerobic engine. You need to get that aerobic foundation back and then the speed work is the icing on the cake. You may realize short term benefits from doing more faster work sooner but you will plateau and perhaps regress. The key to maintaining pace in a race is to run longer and faster without tapping into your anaerobic stores. A big component of a 5K race is aerobic. More miles at comfortable pace 8:30 - 9:00 pace mixed in with some faster work 1-2 other times per week is the key. Remember, you are not 20 years old anymore and you will run into recovery issues if you do too many hard work outs per week. You don't need to hammer intervals or run race time efforts in training to get faster. One work out every 4-5 days may be sufficient. Be patient, build and it will come slowly but surely. You have some good genes! They will come out but you need to stay healthy.

Those who try, fail! Those who do what it takes to succeed, succeed!!

eschrank

posted: 3/9/2012 at 2:01 PM

Trout,

Take the advice from Tchuck and "run" with it. That is great advice and free (and spot on!)

I've been pretty busy for the last week or so, and haven't had a chance to update my profile, running log, et al.

My 5K "road race" was run on the track! Something about lacking funds, volunteers, and permits. (Can you believe that? I'm thinking the Senior Games is looking to lose its USATF sanctioning.)

At first I was pleased, believing that running on the track would help me more easily pace myself. Wrong! We were not given lap times, nor was anyone counting laps. We had to count our own laps!

So, I took off fast... 3:00 minutes for the first 800 meters. I was feeling good, and in third place. I realized I was going too fast, and settled into a 6:43 at 1600 meters. (My brother was shouting at times to me from the stands.) Then, I started to hurt right at about the 6th or 7th lap. I couldn't hear my brother calling out the time. A few runners passed me, and I literally asked one of the guys passing me what lap we were on.

With 800 meters to go, I heard my brother yell out "18:05." Doing the math in my head, as jumbled up as my thought processes were due to oxygen deprivation, I knew I had to push hard if I wanted to achieve my goal of a 21:00 5k. I was hurting, but I tried to start a long kick on the penultimate lap. I could hear someone behind me, so I picked up the pace even more. I was in 7th place, and I was hoping that maybe 2 or 3 of the guys ahead of me were in a different age group. I did not want the guy behind me to take from me what might have been the fourth and final qualifying spot for my age group in the national senior games.

As I was approaching the final lap, I looked up at the stands at my brother, and held up one finger, as if to ask if this was indeed the last lap, and he instinctiviely knew what I was asking and nodded affirmatively. I could still hear my competitor on my shoulder. So I just cut loose, trying to ignore the pain and agony to which I was subjecting my heart and lungs.

I finished ahead of the runner that was just behind me, but I did not know my time or place until another 10 or 15 minutes.

Final results: 20:55, 1st Place in the 50-54 age group. The guys that finished ahead of me were in the 55-59 age group, and 60-64. I tip my hat to these gentlemen.

That a ran the last 800 in 2:50, even faster than the initial 800 was stunning to me. I know that my interval work paid off in that respect, but I ran a very stupid race. Very unevenly paced, and far too painful than was necessary. Had I ran a smarter race, and a more even pace, I think I could have run a faster time.

I'll take all of your suggestions seriously, and put them into practice. Thanks again, all.

So, I took off fast... 3:00 minutes for the first 800 meters. I was feeling good, and in third place. I realized I was going too fast, and settled into a 6:43 at 1600 meters. (My brother was shouting at times to me from the stands.) Then, I started to hurt right at about the 6th or 7th lap. I couldn't hear my brother calling out the time. A few runners passed me, and I literally asked one of the guys passing me what lap we were on.

Final results: 20:55, 1st Place in the 50-54 age group. The guys that finished ahead of me were in the 55-59 age group, and 60-64. I tip my hat to these gentlemen.

That a ran the last 800 in 2:50, even faster than the initial 800 was stunning to me. I know that my interval work paid off in that respect, but I ran a very stupid race. Very unevenly paced, and far too painful than was necessary. Had I ran a smarter race, and a more even pace, I think I could have run a faster time.

Holy crap you are the man!

Busting a 3 minute opening 800 then still blazing the final 2 laps in 2:50!

That is inspiring to say the least.

You have it in you for sure. Once you figure out the correct pace for the entire race you will bust sub 20.

Just don't kill yourself in the process lol you ran a very badly paced race and still got 1st in your Age group! Way to go!

I've been pretty busy for the last week or so, and haven't had a chance to update my profile, running log, et al.

My 5K "road race" was run on the track! Something about lacking funds, volunteers, and permits. (Can you believe that? I'm thinking the Senior Games is looking to lose its USATF sanctioning.)

At first I was pleased, believing that running on the track would help me more easily pace myself. Wrong! We were not given lap times, nor was anyone counting laps. We had to count our own laps!

So, I took off fast... 3:00 minutes for the first 800 meters. I was feeling good, and in third place. I realized I was going too fast, and settled into a 6:43 at 1600 meters. (My brother was shouting out times to me from the stands.) Then, I started to hurt right at about the 6th or 7th lap. I couldn't hear my brother calling out the time. A few runners passed me, and I literally asked one of the guys passing me what lap we were on.

With 800 meters to go, I heard my brother yell out "18:05." Doing the math in my head, as jumbled up as my thought processes were due to oxygen deprivation, I knew I had to push hard if I wanted to achieve my goal of a 21:00 5k. I was hurting, but I tried to start a long kick on the penultimate lap. I could hear someone behind me, so I picked up the pace even more. I was in 7th place, and I was hoping that maybe 2 or 3 of the guys ahead of me were in a different age group. I did not want the guy behind me to take from me what might have been the fourth and final qualifying spot for my age group in the national senior games.

As I was approaching the final lap, I looked up at the stands at my brother, and held up one finger, as if to ask if this was indeed the last lap, and he instinctively knew what I was asking and nodded affirmatively. I could still hear my competitor on my shoulder. So I just cut loose, trying to ignore the pain and agony to which I was subjecting my heart and lungs.

I finished ahead of the runner that was just behind me, but I did not know my time or place until another 10 or 15 minutes.

Final results: 20:55, 1st Place in the 50-54 age group. The guys that finished ahead of me were in the 55-59 age group, and 60-64. I tip my hat to these gentlemen.

That a ran the last 800 in 2:50, even faster than the initial 800 was stunning to me. I know that my interval work paid off in that respect, but I ran a very stupid race. Very unevenly paced, and far too painful than was necessary. Had I ran a smarter race, and a more even pace, I think I could have run a faster time.

I'll take all of your training suggestions seriously, and put them into practice. Thanks again, all.

20:40 this past Sunday. Ran 10 in the morning too, so I guess I shouldn't complain. PR would've been 20:22. DANGIT!

"I would rather have high expectations and fail then have low expectations and succeed." DB

Angolajones

posted: 3/14/2012 at 9:30 PM

Ran the four miler Beer Bottle Open in Ohio. Started off dead last and moved up the whole way. Started my watch at the starting line and ran 27:54. First mile was 7:35 due to the congestion of starting where I did. I'm happy because I have done no speed work and felt good at the end. Nobody passed me the whole time. Finished 82 out of approx. 500 runners. Glad to be back and still think this goal is doable.

I had a really good 5x1000 workout last week. Feeling a bit tired after upping my mileage recently (54mi in the last 7 days is high for me!). My wife's been sick for a week and a half now, serious enough that I've been sleeping in the spare room to avoid her germs. As of this AM ... starting to feel a cold in the back of my throat. Hopefully, I'm just mini-tweaking, 'cause I'm feeling fairly optimistic otherwise.

"I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."